Insulator support



July 11, 1933. c. L. PElRCE, JR

INSULATOR SUPPORT Original Filed July 16, 1926 m N m T T A w a, 7

r Patented July 11, 1933 UNITED "STATES CHARLES rumor 3a., or rirrsnuaen,

Original application filed July 16, 1926, Serial This invention relates to insulator supports and more particularly to the type known as secondary racks suchas are commonly employed in-mounting a row of insulators upon a supporting wall, pole, or the like; and this application is a division of my earlier application for insulator supports, Serial Number 122,826, filed July 16, 1926 (Patent No. 1,709,805 dated April 16, 1929).

Supports of this type generally consist of a base section by means of which the device is secured to the supporting structure and which has mounted thereon a plurality of separately formed outwardly extended insu lator supporting arms, the latter being of a configuration dependent upon the particular type of insulator to be supported.

In the manufacture of racks from sheet material, it has heretofore been customary to form the arms separately and secure them to the base section, which itself is usually formed by one or more parts, by any suitable manner of fastening, such, for example, as riveting.

It is apparent that this form of construction is subject to serious difficulties from a commercial viewpoint; there being among others the cost and time of manufacturing, due to the necessity of assembling the various parts and fastening them securely together.

In addition, the strength of such a device is always largely dependent upon the strength of the fastening means employed rather than upon the design and construction of the completed rack.

An object of this invention is to provide an improved construction of insulator support of the type set forth.

A further object is to provide an insulator supportof simple and rugged construction which will be cheap and easy to manufacture and which will overcome disadvantages encountered in prior art structures now in use and known to me.

These and other objects which will be apparent to those skilled in this particular art are accomplished by means of the present invention, one embodiment of which is illus-. trated in the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a piece of sheet metal stock showing one step in the preferred method of manufacturing one form of insulator rack embodying the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an insulatorrack constructed in accordance with v isnsziz "W E" i V rsnnsvnvanrs, Assrenon or one- AZE To srUBBARnAnn comranr, A eonronarron or rnnnsrnvanra INSULATOR SUPPORT is front elevation thereof. Fig; 4; is a sec-v tional view on the line 1V-1V of' Fig. 2.

n iaasae. Divided and this application med January 26 Serial v Fig; 5 is similar viewon-the line VV of Fig. 2 and, Fig. 6 is a View similar to Fig. 5, illustrating a different form 'o'f' securing means. I

One of the commercial advantages which results from the present invention is that secondary racks embodying" this invention can be manufactured from sheet metal stock with practically no waste of material.

As illustrated, the invention contemplates the provision of a secondary rack which is. ianufactured from blanks severed from a sheet of flat metal stock in such manner that the blanks forming the finished rack are simultaneously formed so asto be capable of being employed together in the formation. of the finished rack. p r

In the specific embodiment illustrated each blank comprises a longitudinal section which is adapted to become a part of the base section of the finished racki Those portions of the blanks which ultim atelylbecomethe insulator supporting arms, namely, the arm blanks, are formed by the" line of severance between the two opposed blanks, thus be seen that the material forming the arm of one blank interlockswith, and fits between the corresponding parts of the opposed blank so that therewill be practically no to so sever the stock as to produce some waste, but my invention broadly contemplates the formation of'ithe opposed blanks so as to minimize waste and labor, andthis may be accomplished by cutting the blanks from the stock so that they are simultaneously formed in opposed relation with portions of one blank interweaving with portions of the other blank. 7 i i After the blanks are. cut thelongitudinal section is flanged and the material of the arms is bent to providetwo complementary blanks which can be joined, preferably by butt welding to form'a finished rack.

In the illustrated embodiment of this invention a strip of sheet metal stock 10 is first out along a line '11 of irregular contour to provide blank strips each of which has a l0ngitudinal section'12 and outwardly extending separated sections or arms 13 formed by cate' rack blanks of suitable length. Of

course the blanks can be formed by cutting along the lines 14 at the same time that the strip is cut along the irregular line 11. This entire operation can be conveniently performed by stamping.

In addition to welding two complementary blanks together the nose 32, of each arm may be provided with a perforated lug 35 which is riveted to the corresponding lug, of the associatedcomplementary blank (see Fig. 6). A spacer 36 is positioned between the sides of the arms adjacent the base flanges and provides an additional means for securing them together and also constitutesa reinforcement for each arm at that portion subject to the greatest. buckling strains. It will be apparent that it is unnecessary to weld the parts together when the latter method of fastening is employed.

The invention can also be embodied in other forms of insulator supports but, for the purpose of illustration I have shown the type or racks used for mounting pin type insulators, illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5. In making this form of rack, the irregular line 11 along which the metal stock is cut will have a contour of the proper configuration to form the arms 13 of substantially L-shape as illustrated; Since the arms 32 (including the fingers) form a U shaped outline with the base or body section 31, the arms themselves may be said to have a shape corresponding substantially to, half a U. The blanks are provided preferably by stamping in the same manner as heretofore described. After each blank is cut the edges of the arms are bent along the dotted lines 27 with the result that the upper ends of the arms are semi-cylindrical. as shown in Fig. 5 while their lower ends adjacent the base sections are more rectangular in outline; but they in general, are of semi-circular outline. The longitudinal section of each blank is bent along the line 28 to form a flange 29 and the angularly extending surfaces 30 of complementary blanks are united by'butt welding the bent edges of the arms to provide a finished blank having a base section 31 formedby the flanges 29 on whichare supported the integral insulator supporting arms 32 formed by joining the two half sections of complementary blanks. The

flanges 29 have notches 88 for mounting the hack upon a support. It will be seen that the only waste of stock material in the manufacture of the rack illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5 is that which is formed by cuttingthenotches33.

The cross sectional area of each supporting arm increases generally'from the outer end thereof to the point where the material thereof merges into the material of the base section. This is produced by tapering each blank and results in an unusually rugged product having the greatest amount of strain absorbing material at those to the greatest strains. v

It will be apparent that secondary racks embodying the advantages and the distinctive features of the present invention can be manufactured in any way desired either by the methods above set forth or in any other manner. a

Although I have illustrated an example of an insulator support, it will be obvious that various changes, omissions, additions and substitutions may be made therein without departing from the spirit of this invention and that the invention is not limited to details herein set forth except as specified by the appended claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In an insulator supporting rack, the combination of two similar blank members, each of said blank members having a body portion of relatively flat outline terminating at one side in a base portion and terminating at the opposite side in a plurality of L- shaped arm portions, each of said arm portions having a cross section whose area decreases toward the extending end thereof,. said arm portions having inwardly extending edges, said blank members being mounted in opposite juxtaposition with respect to each other in, such a manner that the-inwardly extending edges of the arm portions of each blank member are in abutting relationship with respectto the other and the body portions are in spaced relationship, said blank members being rigidly secured together to form a unitary member.

2. In an insulator supporting rack, the combination of two similar blank members, each blank member having a longitudinally extending substantially fiat body portion terminating at one side in an outwardly pro jectingrbase portion, said body portion terminating at the opposite side in a plurality of arm portions having a shape corresponding to half of the letter U and having inwardly extending edges and terminating in a finger portion, each finger portion having an inwardly concave outline,one of said blank members points subjected being mounted upon the other blank member in a mannersuch that the inwardly-extending edges of the arm and finger portions will be in abutting relationship, and means rigid- 1y securing said members together.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my namethis 24th day of January,

CHARLES PEIROE, J-R.

CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION.

Patent No. 1,917,322. July 11, 1933.

CHARLES L. PEIRGE, JR.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as foliows: Page 2, line 20, after "sides" insert the words "ef the body portion or"; line 62, for "hack" read "rack"; and line 70, after "each" insert "arm"; and that the said Letters Patent should he read with these corrections therein that the same may ermform to the record of the ease in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 29th day of August, A. D. i933.

M. .i. Meere.

(Seal) Acting Cemmissioner of Patentb. 

